The diversion force had already been fighting for half a day. Now, it was about time for us to move out. But seriously, Ava-jou's transportation magic is incredibly strong, not to mention useful. After transporting the diversion force, she returned as if nothing happened, and was fully ready to transport us into the government building. As a [Goa] who could not learn magic skills, I was envious. Certainly, I took pride in my physical prowess, and in the mastery over physical power that my race held. Yet sometimes, I cannot help but be enamoured by the abilities of those who can use magic. What an expansion to combat capabilities! What utility!
As I was thinking these errant thoughts, Ava-jou stood up. It seemed that it was time to go.
"Arlo-san. It's time." She always spoke briefly, without haste, without waste. One could glean the practicality of her personality and the ruthless efficiency with which she operated. Yet, remembering the story that she had told us... it's simply too cruel for a girl her age. Even though we [Goa] go through harsh physical trials, they tend to be staggered such that we can handle them progressively as we go through our training. And still, for her to be thrust into such a dangerous location with so little power... it was easy to understand where her drive and power came from.
"Ou, Ava-jou. We are ready. Please send us off as you wish."
"Nn. Gather."
The infiltration force gathered in front of the portal that Ava-jou had opened, and we all trotted through. I immediately told her squad captains, Karan and Cora, to start in a different direction from us and meet up with us later on. I figured that as the people she personally trained, they would inherit some of her ruthless efficiency and competency. Not betraying my expectations, the two simply nodded, then the whole squad vanished.
"...what..." a shocked whisper leaked out of someone's mouth.
I grinned and said, "witness the effectiveness of Ava-jou's team. Now, are you seniors willing to embarrass yourselves in front of such small yet competent juniors?"
"""""Never!"""""
"Good. Let's go."
The reason the infiltration force was so lopsided in power compared to the diversion forces was that each senior government official, the ones that really mattered, were surrounded by guard detail made up of one A ranker and three B rankers. As such, we needed to neutralise not only the government official themselves, but their guard detail as well. Government officials would not attend the Nobles Conference as it simply wasn't necessary - the Nobles Conference was a means to attempt to extract as much lifeblood of the nation as possible from the Empress, while the day-to-day dealings for profit and benefits were all that the government officials needed. As such, almost all of them would be here, carrying out whichever tasks they decided suited their fancy at the moment.
We had been teleported into the penultimate floor of the building, the floor on which the senior officials had their offices. Wasting no time, we began our mission. The first was easy. Having over ten A-rankers dogpiling a single A-ranker and three B-rankers were no problem, unless the A-ranker was like Ava-jou, in which case we'd probably all die. However, the noise made by the struggle certainly raised the alert levels of everyone nearby. It would be harder from here on out.
True to our expectations, seven senior government officials approached us with their guard detail, creating a barely equal fight. Aah, now it'll be a little rough, huh. I grimaced at the scene, noting that while the seven A-rankers on the opposing side were peak A-rank, the A-rankers on our side were a ragtag sample that spanned the spectrum from low A-rank to high A-rank. With such even numbers, we would certainly lose the advantage we initially had.
"[Limit Break]!"
Thinking so, I decided to charge in first. No matter how much I thought about things, I always ended up just charging in first anyway. Perhaps it was a personal flaw, but even if I died here, at least I would have been a good meat shield for others in the meantime. However, I did not expect the response I got. The moment I charged in, it seemed as if a switch had been flipped in the minds of everyone around me, waking them up from their stunned reverie. We immediately shifted into vanguard, midguard, and rearguard. I brought up the front while others used disruptive [Skills] and support [Skills] to help us out. While the coordination was relatively poor, it was just enough to put us on equal footing with the guard detail.
However, just as we could cooperate, so could they. They immediately reacted to us, arranging themselves in formation as well, and we began a long, bloody battle. I don't remember how many times I had gotten critically wounded, only to be healed and stand up again to throw myself back into combat. I don't remember how many times blood, perhaps mine, perhaps my allies', perhaps our enemies', stained the walls of the corridor. After a while, it all began to blur together.
We fought like this for a long time, perhaps an hour, perhaps five. I had no idea. All I knew was keeping my [Limit Break] and [Berserk] active, yelling commands to the midguard and rearguard to heal our allies or provide cover fire, smashing my sledgehammer into bodies whose bones broke and shattered like twigs, only to see them stand up again due to their own rearguard. It went on like this for some time. I had already become desensitised to pain, numb to the taste of blood in my own mouth. It was at this time that I heard:
-Conditions have been met.
The instant drop in the amount of pain I felt cleared the fog from my head a little and allowed me to assess the situation more clearly. We had killed ten B-rankers and one A ranker. However, we had paid the price in two A-rankers from our side permanently leaving us. We were in a sorry state. Our rearguard seemed to almost out be of MP, as did the opponents, but their A rankers were clearly in a much better state than ours. Suddenly, from behind them, we saw nine figures appear.
"We're late. Our apologies."
Our enemies looked behind them, only to find themselves staring at their own headless bodies.
"Fast..." I whispered.
Not only had they cleared their side of the building, they had done it quietly and efficiently. They even had the leeway to come and help. Not only that, the moment they appeared, they had already been in battle formation, and the buffs that they needed had already been cast. With the element of surprise and a sudden burst of speed, four of them had instantly beheaded eight enemies. All of the A-rankers were down, and there were only ten B-rankers left.
Ah, I see why Ava-jou calls them her elite squad, rather than a squad of elites. On their own, they could go toe-to-toe with an A-ranker and beat them in time. However, when they were together, they were terrifyingly effective and covered for each other's weaknesses while simultaneously enhancing their strong points as much as possible.
Much like Ava-jou, no haste, no waste.
"We're saved..." an exhausted voice whispered.
The [Voidfall Arcana] frowned at these words. Their [Warrior] leader, Karan, glanced over all of us, and shook his head in disappointment and exasperation.
"I don't get how you all were supposed to pull this off without Master's help."
Marcta, the [Assassin] of the team nodded, saying only, "weak."
I wanted to retort. I wanted to retort, but... looking at the state we were in, we were certainly weak and unpolished compared to them. Even though we outnumbered the enemy A-rankers 2:1, after such a long and arduous battle, we barely made any progress. Yet, after these children arrived, they easily cleaned up our mess, hardly breaking a sweat. Sure, I could yell at them for arrogance. But none of them looked at us with arrogance in their eyes. They weren't comparing us to them. They simply stated a fact of reality, then moved on. Depending on how you looked at it, that could have been even worse. As if we weren't even worth considering.
"Oi. I know you saved us, but... what is with that condescension, aah?" one prideful A-ranker glared at them, demanding an answer.
This time, it was Cora, the strategist [Hunter] who answered.
"It's not condescension. You're weak. Your coordination was sloppy and you have no resolve. The look in your eyes tells me, 'I don't want to die' instead of 'I will survive'. You don't fight with your life on the line. You fight to avoid your death. Big difference."
Those words shut him up, as well as everyone else who wanted to make any further remarks. It was true. While the people here had committed to fighting for the rebellion, upon getting into an actual fight they began shrinking in fear from the possibility of their deaths, splitting their focus and preventing them from actually fighting properly in the first place.
Nilor, the squad [Guardian] spoke up. "From what I could see, only Arlo-dono was fighting with any kind of resolve. The rest of you were holding him back. He probably received healing far later than he should have, and didn't receive enough cover fire and support when he asked of it. Even with buffs, you were stingy, right? Afraid that if he failed, you would need to preserve MP to make a run for it? Useless, the whole lot."
The [Illusionist] Fil scornfully added, "we should just throw them into the [Labyrinth] for some real training. This standard can hardly be worthy of occupying the same space as Master."
"Alright, that's enough, all of you," Karan interjected.
"Arlo-dono. Our [Healer] Bistry can get you back into fighting shape immediately. We're heading to the next floor to complete Master's mission before heading over to her location. Would you like to come with us? We haven't fought together before, but I can tell you know your role in a team setting and you can actually fight properly unlike the half-baked trash here."
I faltered. Should I abandon these people in the meantime for the sake of the mission, or should I attempt to bring them anyway? It was just like Nilor had said. The healing I received was too little, too late most of the time. It barely brought me back from the brink of death to fight another desperate struggle. I received cover fire about 30% of the time that I asked, and half of those times were half-assed. Furthermore, I barely received any buffs, and those that I did receive were minuscule in their effects at best. I gritted my teeth. Some resolve these fools have. For a proud member of the [Goa] race like me, they were embarrassments as comrades. Although...I knew that I should stay and regroup with them. That would be the way of a leader. Unfortunately, we simply did not have the leeway to tend to them. Ah... I was charging forward again without realising it.
Before I noticed, I had already walked over to Ava-jou's squad. I told the rest of my team, "stay here and recuperate. We'll regroup later and talk about what happened."
"Karan-dono, Nilor-dono. I am grateful for your evaluation of me. If you would have me and are willing to accept my assistance, I am more than happy to offer it."
Karan simply waved his hand dismissively, turned on his heel and said, "Bistry."
I felt the light of healing run through my veins, along with multiple stacked buffs that boosted my strength, defenses, mobility, and even thinking speed. Indeed, what I had received from my team were but the scraps they deigned to give while preserving their own MP in case they had to make a run for it. Looking at the tiredness on Bistry's face, I asked, "doesn't casting so much drain you?"
"Of course. But I am the main healer and buffer for my squad. We have sub-healers, but if I am to leave it to them, will they be able to fight with their full strength? I myself can fight to a decent level, but it pales in comparison to how my team fights when they can rely on my heals and buffs. This is what we learned training under Master. If each of us does the absolute most we can in the best areas we can, our squad strength skyrockets. Not only do we have the resolve to survive and overcome, we have the resolve to survive together."
I looked at his shining eyes and felt the weariness of stagnation. It was true, every single word he said. If every single person in the team pushes themselves to the limit in their own role and the rest can rely on that, every single effort becomes that much more effective, that much more efficient. Perhaps while they were training in the [Labyrinth], they had learned to strip away useless things such as pride, ego, glory, fear, weakness. In order to survive, they sharpened themselves on the whetstones known as monsters. Perhaps that was why I admired Ava-jou so much. She reminded me of when I had learned similar values during my time in my long-gone [Goa] village.
We ascended to the next floor, and were immediately faced by twice the number of enemies. However, it was no longer a problem. As I could entrust my back to these children, I could go all out. The fight was over in a flash. Our mission was completed far quicker than I ever expected. Yet no relief brooked their expressions, no smiles covered their faces.
Karan simply said, "Arlo-dono. Hold onto me. We are moving to Master's location immediately."
Once we went through, however, as though blocked by something we could not fully pass through. The first thing I heard was a soul-rending scream.
"REAAAAAAA!"